Sunday Morning February 20, 2000 Bel Aire Baptist Church, Hobbs NM
THE DEVIL’S TOOLS OF DESTRUCTION
2 CORINTHIANS 11:13-15; 1 PETER 5:8
Introduction:
1. The Devil or Satan is our enemy.
a. He is described by Peter as our adversary or the one who stands
against us or opposes us.
b. The Devil is very deceitful in his activity and dealings with
mankind.
c. He is evil and very wicked.
d. Jesus said he was a liar and the father of lies.
e. He is a murderer.
f. The truth does not dwell in him.
g. He may only use the truth to teach a lie.
1. There is a saying that says that Satan will use 99% truth to
float one lie.
2. Many preachers don’t like to preach on Satan, but I am here to tell
you this morning that Satan is constantly attacking God’s people if
we are in God’s will.
a. You want to know why I believe our church is experiencing growth,
and I’m am talking spiritual growth not numbers.
b. Because we can see Satan attacking from all corners.
c. Satan is going to try to use you and I to attack the church.
d. What better place than inside to start problems.
3. There are some common tools that Satan uses in dealing with people
and you need to be aware of these.
a. The Scriptures tells us to “take heed lest we fall”.
I. The Devil’s Tool Of Worldliness
A. The definition.
1. John describes all that is in the world in 1 John 2:15-17.
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man
love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the
will of God abideth for ever.”
2. The lust of the flesh and eyes and the pride of life are part of
the world system that appeals to our flesh.
3. Jesus taught in the parable of the sower that the cares of the
world and deceitfulness of riches choke the Word and make
it unfruitful.(Matthew 13:22)
4. If you try to be a friend of the world, you cannot be a servant of
God.
a. There is a great difference between spirituality and
worldliness.
B. The design.
1. The design of worldliness is to get your mind off of the things
of God and on the things of the world.
a. Let me give you an example I found in the American Family
Association Journal.
[A new study of more than 3,000 kids ages two to 18 presents disturbing
evidence that the average U.S. child spends almost 51/2 hours a day
either in front of the TV, the computer or the radio.
“Watching TV, playing video games, listening to music and surfing the
Internet have become a full-time job for the typical American child”.
Perhaps more disturbing was that the study showed parents being
inattentive to their children’s’ media habits. According to USA Today, the
report revealed that 61% of parents have no rules about TV viewing, even
though 65% of kids age eight and up have a television in their own room.
“This research should give every parent pause because every day, their
children are spending more time using media than they spend at school.”
b. Have you looked at what the media is producing lately.
c. Is that something that God would be o.k. with?
2. Worry and fretting about the material supply of what we need
and the things we want have hindered a lot of God’s people.
3. Demas a co-worker of the apostle Paul forsook him because he
loved the present world. (2 Timothy 4:10).
4. Love for the world will cool your love for God and love for God
will cool your love for the world.
C. The damage.
1. Many who are saved have gone back out into the world because they have yielded to it’s appeal.
2. The material things do not last forever.
a. The things that we hold dear like position, power, passion,
possessions, popularity are only for the moment.
3. Many saved people have stopped serving the Lord and have
gone back out into the world because they will not mortify the
things of the flesh.(Colossians 3:5).
“Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness,
which is idolatry:”
4. Paul pleads with the Romans to present their bodies a living
sacrifice to the Lord.
a. Such a sacrifice is holy and acceptable to God.
II. The Devil’s Tool Of Weariness
A. The definition.
1. The saved often get very tired in serving the Lord.
a. The conflicts and pressures they feel are real.
2. Elijah crawled under a juniper tree and wanted to die because
of the words of the king’s wife. (1 Kings 19:1-5)
3. When we feel exhausted and weak and powerless, we need
the Lord who is our strength. (2 Corinthians 12:9).
“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is
made perfect in weakness.”
4. If you try to carry the load by yourself and in your own strength,
you will fall beneath its load every time.
B. The design.
1. The Devil wants us to become weary in the struggle because
of the weakness of the flesh.(Matthew 26:41).
2. Paul prayed three times for the thorn to be removed.
3. The Lord wanted him to know that His grace was sufficient and
the Lord makes weak people strong.
4. The Lord can help us.
a. The Lord can use other people to help us.
b. We need to be revived through the Holy Spirit that is within
us.
C. The damage.
1. Many who are saved have stopped serving the Lord because
they become weary.
2. Many who are saved have quit going to church and have gone
back out into the world.
3. The light that Jesus wants to shine brightly has become dim.
4. When you become weary instead of adjusting your load in
church work, you may decide to drop the whole load you are
carrying.
III. The Devil’s Tool Of Wickedness
A. The definition.
1. The one that sowed the tares in the parable of the sower was
called the Wicked One. (Matthew 13:39).
2. The Devil is in the business of trying to get God’s people dirty.
a. When we sin, we do become unclean and dirty.
3. Sin is the transgression of the law and is all unrighteousness.
4. We need to confess our sins and allow the Lord to cleanse us
from all sin.
B. The design.
1. The Devil wants to take the joy of God’s salvation away from us.
(Psalm 51:12).
“Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free
spirit.”
2. When the joy goes so does the work.
a. David said he would teach transgressors the Lord’s way
after the joy was restored. (Psalm 51:13)
“Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted
unto thee.”
3. Sin causes the Lord’s people to feel wrong and unfit to do the
work of the Lord or even be in His house.
4. You cannot try to live in both worlds.
a. A believer cannot be happy in the world and a believer
cannot be happy in the Lord’s work with the world in them.
C. The damage.
1. Demas went back into the world because he loved it.
a. The world has a lot to offer the flesh.
2. He stopped being a worker and laborer with Paul.
3. You will not feel right in the world as a saved person.
a. You will not feel right in church with the world in you.
4. So you stop going to church and even trying to do the work of
the Lord.
IV. The Devil’s Tool Of Wrongfulness
A. The definition.
1. To be wrong is to not be right.
a. You will be going the wrong way.
2. You will be doing the wrong thing.
a. You will be saying the wrong thing.
3. John referred to right and wrong as darkness and light.
a. Paul describes the light and darkness and how you cannot
do both. (2 Corinthians 6:14-17).
4. The Holy Spirit of God will reprove the believer of the wrong
and draw the believer to make the correction through the Word
of God.(2 Timothy 3:16).
B. The design.
1. You cannot walk in darkness and have fellowship with the Lord.
a. You can say you do, but you do not.
2. People who are wrong often are defensive, critical, and do not
feel right with God or others.
3. In this condition very few people will even try to serve the Lord.
4. The Holy Spirit will convict you of wrong doing.
a. You will feel guilty.
b. You will not feel right before God.
C. The damage.
1. The great teaching of repentance is seldom preached and even
more seldom experienced by God’s people.
2. In our wicked day, few people think they are doing wrong.
a. You dare not say sin.
3. As a result people do not have fellowship with God, or joy in
God’s service, or zeal in the service of God, or dedication to the
things of God.
4. If you attend very many churches services you will either get
right or you will quit going to church.
V. The Devil’s Tool Of Works
A. The definition.
1. Paul had a great task of convincing the Jews that you could not
be justified by the deeds or works of the flesh.
2. We are not saved by works or deeds according to Paul in
Titus 3:5.
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of
the Holy Ghost;”
Ephesians 2:9
“Not of works lest any man should boast.”
3. We are not just to do works.
a. The deeds we do must come from the heart with love.
4. We work for the Lord because we are saved not in order to be
saved.
B. The design.
1. The Pharisees are a picture of religion without God or Christ.
2. They had their ceremonies and observances.
a. There is the spirit of the law and the letter of the law.
3. Jesus said the Pharisees were like whited tombs.
a. They looked good on the outside, but corruption and decay
were within.
4. A works system is dead, ceremonial, and legalistic.
a. The Pharisees in Jesus’ day had a lot of works, but Jesus
didn’t receive the works.
C. The damage.
1. We are to walk by faith, not by sight.
a. A walk by sight is a flesh walk.
2. It is impossible to please God without faith.
a. Faith makes a difference to God and us.
3. Those who work have a tendency to brag about what they have
done, rather than what the Lord has done.
4. We are to praise the Lord.
a. Works seem to stop the praise and exalting of Jesus as our
Saviour and Lord.
Conclusion:
1. How has the Devil’s tools affected your life for Christ.
2. What are you going to do to change it.
3. The Bible says to “But seek you first the kingdom of God, and his
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
4. Are you following God or the world?
